[ron993]

This is not Murano related but I know that some of you know a lot about aftermarket stereos. The list below is what I have in my Ford F350 Crew cab. I am wanting to know if there is anything that I can do to improve on what I have with starting completly over.

Thanks In advance
Ronnie

If there is anything else I need to provide let me know

Head unit
Current Alpine CDA-7863
60w x 4 V-drive amplifier

Changing to Alpine CDA-9835
26W x 4 V-drive amplifier

Amplifier
Kenwood KAC-646x
Max power is 50W x 4
Rated power is 25W x 4

Front and Rear speakers
Cerwin-Vega SS-2683 6 x 8
45 watts per channel RMS
90 watts per channel MAX
I also have a pair of Infinity Kappa 6 x 9 Currently not being used
Kappa 693.5I
110 watt RMS
330 watt peak

8 inch power bazooka tube
EL8A-HP 100 watt output

 

[10413]

Well the important question here is -- WHAT specifically are you looking to improve?

Audio systems are very much a matter of personal taste. If you don't like the way it sounds, what about it don't you like?

Too much bass? Not enough bass? Mids too weak? Treble to brassy? Not loud enough? Too much distortion at higher volumes?

I'd be happy to give you some suggestions... just let me know what you're looking to improve upon.

 

[GripperDon]

IMO one thing is for sure it's a lot of acoustic power in a small space. WoW the sides must vibrate. Speciak-K has the right questions.

 

[ron993]

I am confused on the power ratings. The radio I currently have supposedly puts out 60W x 4, the new radio I am going to buy puts out 26W x 4, but it has to have a direct connection to the battery do to power demand.

If I understand this correctly with the head unit I have now and the amp that I have I am sending the speakers 85W per channel. (stereo output plus amp output) Is this a correct way of thinking?

With the new head unit there should be 51 watts to each channel.

Overall the systems sounds good enough for me, I am just seeing that there will be a power loss when I go to the new radio

 

[10413]

I am confused on the power ratings. The radio I currently have supposedly puts out 60W x 4, the new radio I am going to buy puts out 26W x 4, but it has to have a direct connection to the battery do to power demand.

If I understand this correctly with the head unit I have now and the amp that I have I am sending the speakers 85W per channel. (stereo output plus amp output) Is this a correct way of thinking?

With the new head unit there should be 51 watts to each channel.

Overall the systems sounds good enough for me, I am just seeing that there will be a power loss when I go to the new radio

That's not how it works...

First, to address the issue of the old unit boasting 60Wx4 and the new unit with 26Wx4... I'm not going to get into all the technical details of amplifier efficiencies and such. Just take my word on this -- those rating really don't matter much. 26W of good, clean, solid power will outperform 60W of "dirty" power any day. I had an amplifier that was rated at 40Wx2 pushing 2 10" subwoofers in a car I used to have. It put out WAY more (clean, usable) power than a friend's 500W el-cheapo amp that he got a swap meet.

Regardless -- in your case, it doesn't matter anyway.

You should be using the line-level pre-outs from your head unit to attach into your amplifier. If you're not -- switch and do it that way. The pre-outs are a low-level signal that is not amplified and provides the cleanest signal to your amp. Even in the case where you might have the speaker-level outputs feeding into your amplifier, the amplifier has internal circuitry that steps down the signal to a low-level input internally before the amplification happens. The power (in watts) is not additive. If you had a 60W head unit feeding into a 25W amp, you're going to get an effective 25W of power. Keep in mind what I said above, a good 25W amp can provide more clean, usable power than a 60W depending on how they're built. It's much better to feed a line-level signal into an amp than an amplified signal, as the amplified signal will have some level of distortion introduced into it before it even gets to the amp. Then, the distorted signal will be converted to low-level, and re-amplified. Amplifying a distorted signal will get you ------- a MORE distorted sound.

In a nutshell -- with an external amplifier, ignore the power ratings on the head unit. If you want more or better sound, focus on the amplifier as your head unit is high enough quality.

 

[ron993]

Special-K

Thanks for all of your help, obviously I didn't have a clue to how it worked. I am using the line level preouts, so I think that when I order the new head unit I am going to buy a new amp that puts out around 50W x 4, and then I could use the old amp bridged for some small subs.

The head unit I picked out can run sirius or xm, cd changer control, and control an IPOD

Thanks again
Ronnie

 

[GripperDon]

What Head Unit is that , sounds interesting!!

 

[10413]

What Head Unit is that , sounds interesting!!

He mentioned in the original post:

"Changing to Alpine CDA-9835
26W x 4 V-drive amplifier"

Info from Alpine's web site ...

 

[GripperDon]

Thanks.

 

[GMTURBO43]

TO expand slightly on what special-k said (although he did a fine job).

Speakers are generally not blown due to too much power - it is generally distortion. Wattage is not going to determine how loud a speaker will play. IMO - you are better off getting a more powerful amp with a low THD (Total Harmonic Distortion). I highly doubt at this level you are going to have to worry about blowing a speaker.

Also, amplifier ratings (this goes for headunits also) are sometimes given with a input voltage of 12V - others are 14V. A lot of car electrical systems run somewhere in between those. Running an amp at 14V is going to increase the output - but of course if you're electrical system is running at 12V - you're not going to get the 'full' power rating.

There is a lot of information regarding car stereos out on the internet.